Question - Does God Suffer from Chronic Constipation?

Constipation can be a real problem. I know this firsthand as I have struggled with Irritable Bowel Syndrome my entire life!

When things aren't flowing as they should, your entire system feels clogged up. A person known to be constipated can sometimes get a wee bit cranky as you just feel a bit out of sorts. It can also lead to some mild depression, particularly if as soon as you get over one bout of constipation, you start a new one.

I bring up this uncomfortable topic because of what I recently read in Jeremiah 4:19:

My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

To be honest, I never realized that God had bowels. Now that I know, I think it could go along way toward explaining WHY God spends a good deal of his time throughout the Old Testament being cranky and cross.

Maybe, his bowels were impacted! It would be hard to show your loving side if his insides were filled with non-moving crap.

Of course, this DOES raise other important questions. What does God eat? How often does he eat it? Shouldn't an omniscient being KNOW what sorts of foods lead to constipation? Does he lack willpower and self-control?

To see what other questions I've asked about the Christian Bible, go here.

Chapter 7, Part 15 - Confucius

The Master said, "With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow; I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness, are to me as a floating cloud."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

The Noose Is Growing Tighter

Trey Smith

Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive, wrote an alarming column on Tuesday. It concerns the expected passage in the US Senate of the National Defense Authorization Act. As is all too typical in federal legislation of this kind, some sections of the proposed law are written in very broad terms. The upshot, according to Rothschild and the ACLU, is that, in the future, it may become legal to send American citizens to the gulag (prison) at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely.

The Act is gussied up to appear to target "terrorism," but because of the overly broad language, it could easily be utilized to target individuals critical of the government...you know...people like those involved in the Occupy movement or even progressive commentators like Rothschild himself!

Bills of this nature offer clear examples of how freedom and democracy are stealthily dismantled piece by piece. If you will remember how it went in Nazi Germany, Hitler didn't abolish most freedoms in one fell swoop. It wasn't like one day democracy reigned supreme and then the next day it vanished. It was stolen incrementally -- always dressed up as law aimed at dangerous others.

Before most of the German people figured out what was REALLY going on, it was too late. They already had acquiesced to giving up their freedoms in order to ensure their continued "security."

It looks like the United States is poised to tread down a similar path. Generations from now, when future historians look back to this bygone era, they will ask the very same question many of us ask today about the German people of the 1930s: How could they let this happen?!

Afternoon Matinee: A People's History, Part 1

Rear View Mirror

Ta-Wan

Problems
will appear
smaller
when looking back.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

I'll See Your Re Re Re

Trey Smith

In a post yesterday afternoon, Ta-wan broached the topic of reincarnation. In all honesty, I always thought the concept was daft! The very idea that a self could go through several lifetimes just seemed silly to me, so I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it.

Lately, however, I have started looking into Zen and the subject has reared its head. I still think the idea of reincarnation, in a formal sense, is crazy, but I am open to modifying my previous rejection of the concept somewhat.

For one thing, I know that the "bodies" of plants are reincarnated as a matter of rule. The plant dies and its component parts decompose and return to the soil where, in time, it brings forth new life. Since we don't know if plants have "souls" or "auras," there is no way to know if some type of spiritual (for lack of a better word) component is passed on to this new life. It could be so or it may not.

From this standpoint, I suppose the human body could perform the same function. Of course, most human bodies are placed in boxes or are cremated at death. Therefore, the effort of most such bodies to serve as the cradle of new found life is thwarted.

There is another way I might be willing to entertain the notion of reincarnation. Since as soon as we experience a moment, it dies -- it no longer exists, except in our memory -- one could say we are reincarnated every second. The person we were in the moment passed is no more, so we become a new person with each new moment.

This new person is somewhat like the old person, but it's not the same person. Cells in our bodies have died and been replaced by new ones. In every moment that we experience life, our consciousness changes. While we feel a certain continuity between this changing self from moment to moment, it really is nothing more than a trick of perception.

Hmm. I need to ponder this some more...

Line by Line - Verse 52, Line 16

And hides the unchanging from men's sight.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

This is learning constancy.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

This is called practicing constancy
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

That's how to get right with Tao.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

I think Derek Lin really sums up the thrust of this verse well.

"Practicing constancy" is the application of discipline in our lives. Constant practice of the Tao involves repetition and reminders, until the wisdom becomes second nature.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

Huainanzi - Entry 30

Trey Smith

What enables a nation to survive is benevolence and justice; what enables people to live is practical virtue. A nation without justice will perish even if it is large; people without goodwill will be wounded even if they are brave.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~

Why is it that an unjust nation cannot survive for too long? I think history has shown that injustice is the engine for unrest and unrest leads to a host of problems. Let's look at just one of these many problems.

When a citizenry believes that their society is unjust, it hurts productivity. Why put your all into your work if you truly don't believe you will be able to get ahead and/or be fairly rewarded? If you know ahead of time that your efforts will go unnoticed or someone farther up the food chain will garner all the accolades, this easily can thwart the motivation to perform at a high level.

So, you trudge off to work each day. You do what is asked of you, but little more. The bosses keep trying to wring greater productivity out of fewer workers, but the dampened morale stifles the potential for greater success.

In time, the decreased productivity begins to impact the owners. The bottom line doesn't look as pretty as it used to. So, they apply even more pressure to produce on an already demoralized workforce. At some juncture, the pressure becomes too much for the beleaguered workers and, in one way or another, they explode.

To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.

Chapter 7, Part 14 - Confucius

Yen Yu said, "Is our Master for the ruler of Wei?" Tsze-kung said, "Oh! I will ask him."

He went in accordingly, and said, "What sort of men were Po-i and Shu-ch'i?" "They were ancient worthies," said the Master. "Did they have any repinings because of their course?" The Master again replied, "They sought to act virtuously, and they did so; what was there for them to repine about?" On this, Tsze-kung went out and said, "Our Master is not for him."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Daily Tao - Ooh, I Look Good

Ego and Body are presented to the world so seem important to present well.

Yet what is the world but an image of the true self?

You think the true self is interested by the show of the ego, a well held lotus position or a nice tan.

Daily Tao is a reprint from Ta-Wan's blog, Daily Cup of Tao, which offers one post per day for an entire year. You also can read these posts in an ebook.

How To Be Sick

How To Be Sick
by Scott Bradley

I've been sick for about a month now. Nothing particularly dramatic (I hope) — possibly a well-entrenched intestinal parasite, along with other minor ailments — but very debilitating nonetheless. I have done little more than water the garden for a few weeks now. The cures haven't worked. It could be something more serious. I may have to make a run to the border where I can better afford the tests that the local doc says are the next step. Okay, no more about that. I just needed to set the stage.

I was with a group of 'spiritually-minded' people the other day and as we each shared what had been happening with us over the past month, I shared the above, and then said I was learning how to be sick. I could feel the disquiet. This is not the way we are supposed to speak of these things, which of course was one reason why I did so.

Since I am sick, it strikes me as important to learn how best to be sick. My answer is my own; no doubt there are lots of good strategies for dealing with sickness. Conventional wisdom would have us dwell on getting better. And this, of course, is what I want to do — get better. Still, I am presently sick.

If you've been reading these posts for awhile, you may be able to guess how I have concluded how to be sick. Or perhaps I flatter myself, believing you to be that involved.

Acceptance is surely a fundamental aspect of a healthy response to sickness. Trust me, there is not enough cheese in Wisconsin to go with my whine. Acceptance is the cure for whine. I am sick. I accept that. I go along with this reality. I 'lodge' in it. I do not fight what befalls me. I am thankful. I am free. Yes, 'free and unfettered wandering' is not a flight from circumstances, but through and beyond them.

Confucius describes the way to freedom as a journey which begins by passing through what is most familiar. It is not a great leap-frogging to some other realm. The way to the mountain's summit, he tells us, starts at the bottom. Being what is happening, we are free to be even more.

Acceptance is not resignation. It does not rob one of active and pro-active living. Accepting that I am sick does not mean I do not seek to be well. It grounds the attempted journey into wellness in the positive. From positive to positive. From yes to yes. It need not be a battle of good against evil. Success or failure, sickness or health, cured or not — acceptance affirms them all. It's okay to be sick, if that's what you are. Being sick is as much a natural part life as being well. And so also, is the impulse to live and be well.

[Note: Scott has gotten better since writing this post over one month ago.]

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

3W 11

Wise men don't judge: they seek to understand.
~ A selection from Fingers Pointing Towards The Moon by Wei Wu Wei. Click here for more from this book. ~

Tao Bible - Jeremiah 4:6-7

Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
~ King James version ~

The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
The way of nature is unchanging.
~ from Verse 16 of the Tao Te Ching ~

God -- the being we are told that is the embodiment of love and mercy -- is ticked off and now declares he willfully will bring evil upon his chosen flock? He will become a destroyer and not the foundation of life?

As Lao Tzu points out, "the way of nature is unchanging." Tao doesn't get mad. Tao doesn't mete out punishment -- Tao cannot spread evil. Life (and death) plays out according to the immutable laws of nature.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

Chapter 7, Part 13 - Confucius

When the Master was in Ch'i, he heard the Shao, and for three months did not know the taste of flesh. "I did not think'" he said, "that music could have been made so excellent as this."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

A Tough Go for Herm

Trey Smith

Republican [pretend] candidate Herman Cain has had a rough time lately. It seems like almost from the moment he surged ahead in the polls, accusations of one type or another have gone viral. The latest of these involves an alleged 13-year affair.

I don't want any of you to be confused; I am NOT a Herman Cain fan. I think the guy is about as loony as Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann. That said, I find it very, very interesting that all these alleged scandals popped up at the precise moment that Cain became the frontrunner.

If any of these allegations are true, why didn't anyone go public when Cain was mired in single digits in the polls? If you believe that Cain is a lech, why not get this stuff out in the open at the get-go? It would have derailed his candidacy almost before it began.

My sneaking suspicion is that a lot of the allegations against Cain are made-up -- manufactured out of thin air. It's not that I don't believe that Hermain Cain could be a lech in real life; the timing of the airing of the allegations is what bothers me.

Republicans -- particularly those in the Tea Party -- seemed to like the idea that they had a black candidate so long as he had no chance at securing their party's nomination. They could point to him and say, "See, we're not bigots after all. We have a black candidate too."

But the moment Cain's profile increased and his poll numbers shot up, I think the conservative big wigs became very nervous. I bet they were just as nervous as the Democratic leadership was in 2004 when Howard Dean became their party's frontrunner.

Do you remember what happened to Howard Dean? A crisis was manufactured to push him out of the way. His poll numbers fell through the roof in no time at all and the beltway Democrats breathed a big sigh of relief.

My suspicion is that this same type of scenario has befallen Herman Cain. The decision makers in his own party were not enthused with his popular support -- support I can't begin to fathom! -- so they manufactured several crises to convince the faithful to turn away from him.

I could be wrong. All the allegations against him may be true, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn (years later, of course, in some tell-all book) that not a one of them is.

Afternoon Matinee: Stamps Store and Osage Clay Works

This video is more for me (Trey) than anyone else. The store featured in this video was built around 1900 and served as a lifeline for me when I worked for one year as a Child Abuse Investigator in Carroll County, Arkansas. I lived 6 miles from town (well, a town of 6) and spent many a day next to the wood burning stove in the Stamps Store learning about the area from the old-timers.

ReReReincarnation

Ta-Wan

I poke fun at reincarnation and karma.

The best explanation of reincarnation must trace its roots to the Vedas, those ancient Indian scriptures, the oldest known of all written works. Many sects of Hinduism and most branches of Buddhism are very attached to the concepts and so, as I studied both, I felt the need to trace these concepts to their core.

On tracing the ideas back I found numerous times that the concepts are not literal but simply parts of stories which vary from people caught in endless loops of existence to gods living out dreams. The height of Vedic understanding though is right in bed with Tao, undivided oneness.

In no version of the concept of reincarnation is it ever denied that it is this Oneness which is taking on apparent form after apparent form. It is never stated in the purest sense that there are true individual souls or entities reincarnating, ideas as such are only stories used to make other points. The purest Vedic teachings have no room at all for separate entities. (or time, linear or cyclic, for that matter)

What seems to be separate selves reincarnating for whatever reason is really an inconceivable, formless, shifting, changing Oneness.. Apparently being separate forms, but always being undivided Tao.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

Line by Line - Verse 52, Lines 14-15

Who uses well his light,
Reverting to its (source so) bright, Will from his body ward all blight,
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Using the outer light, return to insight,
And in this way be saved from harm.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Utilize the light
Return to the clarity
Leaving no disasters for the self
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Use that strength
to hang on to your insight,
and you will always be at peace.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

In this instance, I simply will share how another translator -- Jonathan Star -- renders these lines.

Follow your own shining
Be aware of your own awareness
On the darkest nights you will not stumble
On the brightest days you will not blink

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

Huainanzi - Entry 29

Trey Smith

Food is the basis of the people; the people are the basis of the country; the country is the basis of the ruler.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~

Every type of creature needs food (or something like it) to survive. Our planet has the capability to feed every critter and yet so many go hungry.

Like so many other aspects of life, food has been transformed into nothing more than a commodity. In today's world of complex financial speculation, food is treated like an expendable pawn that is utilized to fatten a few pockets while millions starve.

To say the very least, ANY system that withholds the basic necessities of life in order that a few greedy bastards can pile up ever more money is an immoral system. And that's the kind of system that so many lionize today!

To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.

Chapter 7, Part 12 - Confucius

The things in reference to which the Master exercised the greatest caution were fasting, war, and sickness.
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Daily Tao - Adjusting the Nut

D: I'm still trying to adjust to this notion of being infinite awareness but still having a role in life, a job, family..

T: A squirrel is also infinite awareness, but still has to fetch nuts to nibble.

D: Is this not unfair to compare me to a lowly squirrel?

T: How dare you voice opinion over the costume I see fit to wear.

Daily Tao is a reprint from Ta-Wan's blog, Daily Cup of Tao, which offers one post per day for an entire year. You also can read these posts in an ebook.

The Sage Is No One

The Sage Is No One
by Scott Bradley

The sage is no one.
You hoped for a blazing star?

The sage behaves as he does.
You expected a paragon of virtue?

The sage cares not for appearances,
nor a known sage to be.

What does it mean that the sage is not
what you would have her be?

The final question in this saying of Chen Jen is the heart of the matter. Whatever image we have of what a sage should be speaks more about who we are than how a theoretical sage actually might be. The question assumes that we wish to at least approximate the character of a sage. If you do not, well, then these words are not for you. Perhaps you are already free of the folly of wanting-to-be. This may mean you are yourself a sage. Or it may mean you have yet to experience the unraveling and un-becoming of a growing self-awareness.

What we expect in a sage reveals a great deal about the nature of our own bondage. We want that a sage should wow us; we would like to wow others. We want that a sage be serene and holy; there is a right way to be. We would have a sage behave just so, because we are bound by concepts. They may be concepts tempered by the discrimination of right and wrong, but they are first and foremost just ideas. Ideas are not reality and only serve to insulate us from a direct experience of reality. They mediate. And mediation is a necessary tool. But they do not touch the thing-in-itself.

The paintings we have of Zen masters by Zen masters are, I suspect, no mere iconography. What might be the point of these imaginary depictions of the legendary Bodhidharma? Study them. He glares at us. Is he mad? He is a heavy bearded barbarian from out of the West (India). Inscrutable. Unapproachable. He is a slap in the face of our sensibilities, our preconceived ideas of how things should be.

Lin-chi, hoe in hand, glares at us over his shoulder. Whatta want? You lookin' at me? Get on with your own work, and I'll get on with my own. I'm not you, and you won't find yourself in me. Nor am I who you imagine me to be. If he had his staff, he might crack us a good one.

There is the story of how a young monk, after hearing his master screaming most unnervingly at his death at the hands of robbers, despaired that he had not been so holy after all. You silly fellow, remonstrated a senior monk, he screamed because he was being murdered. It was a great scream! Get over mentally boxing yourself and others in a crate labeled how-things-should-be.

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

3W 10

The notion that human life has greater value than any other form of life is both unjustifiable and arrogant.
~ A selection from Fingers Pointing Towards The Moon by Wei Wu Wei. Click here for more from this book. ~

Tao Bible - Jeremiah 4:1-2

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
~ King James version ~

Tao brokers no "deals" with anyone.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~

Have you ever noticed that the Christian God seems to be a deal maker? There are many places in the Bible in which he says, "If you will do this, this, and this, I will do that." Of course, if people don't follow through on their end, it really ticks off God and you don't want to be around him when he's angry!

Tao is not a deal maker. Tao simply is and each of us gets to decide if we want to embrace the Way or not. Embracing the Way does not mean that there will be no challenges or pain in life. All it means is that we will be better equipped to deal with what life dishes out.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

Chapter 7, Part 11 - Confucius

The Master said, "If the search for riches is sure to be successful, though I should become a groom with whip in hand to get them, I will do so. As the search may not be successful, I will follow after that which I love."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Sleep Well, My Darling

Trey Smith

There are some requisites all humans need. Remove air from the everyday equation and we die. In the overall scheme of things, we can't last too long without water or food. And, where love is lacking (including self-love), a person will go crazy and, at the very least, the mind will die.

Another thing that must be added to this list is sleep. Of the various things we each need to stay healthy and vibrant, this is the one I struggle with the most.

For starters, I can't seem to find a happy medium! The last several years I bobble between insomnia and sleeping all the time. I go through periods in which my physical pain is so severe that sleep doesn't come easily or at all. Even when I am able to doze off, any slight shift in position causes me immediately to awaken and then, no matter what I do, I can't fall back asleep.

There are other times, usually during my Fibromyalgia flare-ups, when I am beset with extreme fatigue and I can sleep for 12, 14 or 16 hours or more per day. Unfortunately, no matter how much sleep I get, I awaken feeling just as worn out and lethargic as I felt before.

Then there are days like today. I woke up after about 6 1/2 hours of zzzz and felt completely out of sorts. I moved through the day as if in a fog. I took a nap mid-day, but the fog didn't lift. I realize that this could be the onset of another flare-up of fatigue, but I won't know for two or three days.

What I do know right now is that the world looks hazy and I feel like I'm backstroking through a bank of clouds.

Afternoon Matinee: The Real God - An Epiphany

Huainanzi - Entry 28

Trey Smith

Greedy leaders and harsh rulers oppress their subjects and bleed their people to staisfy their own interminable desires. Thus the commoners have no way to benefit from the harmony of heaven or walk upon the blessings of the earth.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~

It is mind-boggling that we live on a planet that can more than adequately sustain all life right now, yet millions of people starve to death every year. While a small majority lives in the lap of luxury, the vast majority ekes out a bare subsistence, if that much.

If the resources of Mother Earth were shared more equitably, almost every being could live a life of unlimited potential. When put in these terms, what is most striking about human society is the percentage of potential that is squandered or thwarted each day. This sad fact, in and of itself, offers a horrible commentary on the history of humanity.

To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.

Line by Line - Verse 52, Line 13

the guarding of what is soft and tender is (the secret of) strength.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Yielding to force is strength.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Holding on to the soft is called strength
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

It takes strength
to yield gently to force.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

I don't know about you, but I think Ron Hogan nailed this line perfectly! No, it may not be a strict translation, but it captures the essence of the meaning in the popular vernacular.

As a lifelong pacifist, I have never actively participated in a physical fight. In my youth, when another child punched or attacked me, I would roll up in a ball and refuse to respond in-kind.

The other children would call me yellow. "You're such a coward," they would say. In their mind's eye, it took no effort at all to absorb punishment.

I would counter that it takes more courage NOT to strike back. It takes more strength NOT to return blow for blow. Most of us have a built-in revenge facet. If someone abuses us, we want to return the abuse in spades. To not allow oneself to succumb to this basic personality feature takes a lot of self-control. It takes a lot of strength NOT to hit back.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

Getting Here

Trey Smith

If you haven't noticed, we've added an About page as part of the blog's redesign. Each of our authors (we're still waiting for the Baroness) has written a little about themselves so that you, the reader, may be provided with a small inkling of who we are and what we're about.

Both Scott and Ta-Wan have mentioned somewhat how they arrived at where they are -- though this is NOT to suggest that where they are is some sort of destination. Every day represents a step on a path and each step may be on a path previously chosen or it may be a new one altogether! In many ways, a path only can be identified in retrospect.

I think it is evident that my four colleagues are far more versed in Asian (I think the term, Oriental, has fallen out of favor) philosophy than I am. Shawn, Scott and Ta-wan have mentioned Zen themes in some of their posts and the Baroness's knowledge of most things Chinese is expansive.

I have never intentionally written anything that makes reference to Zen because I know hardly a thing about it! You also won't find me referencing Buddhism because, like Zen, my knowledge of this religion/philosophy probably could fit on one 3 x 5 inch index card.

Though I am, by nature, a very inquisitive and research-oriented fellow, I think my autism plays a role in why I have focused almost exclusively on studying philosophical Taoism and have not branched out to research other similar philosophies. I can illustrate this notion by referencing the difference between how my wife and I utilize the TV remote control.

When Della sits down to watch TV, she may spend 10 minutes flipping through the on-screen program guide in order to survey what the offerings are for that particular time period. She usually narrows it down to two or three programs, then decides which one piques her interest the most.

Not me! I usually start at a predetermined point and work my way up the dial. As soon as I find a program that interests me, I stop. Unless I later decide it was a bad choice, that's the program I watch.

My preferred method drives my wife crazy. "How can you know that's what you most want to watch IF you don't know all the options?" she often screeches at me. To my way of thinking, it doesn't matter how many potential options I might have. Once I find something that interests me, why confuse the matter by looking for more choices?

In this same vein, when I left the Christian mindset behind to look for different worldviews and I somehow stumbled onto philosophical Taoism, I saw no reason for me to keep looking. Taoism resonated deeply within me and, as I mentioned in my brief bio on the About page, it struck me that I had been a Taoist my entire adult life without realizing it!

Since philosophical Taoism struck such a chord with me, I have dedicated the past 9 years or so to study, reflect on and write about it. This blog came into being because of my love for this specific philosophic tradition.

But Scott, Ta-Wan and Shawn -- through their various musings -- have spurred me to want to take a peek beyond my self-imposed enclosure. Over the past month, I have purchased a few used books that discuss the philosophy of Zen. I've only cracked one of them open thus far, but I have found what I've read interesting.

Who knows? Maybe I'll write a post one of these days on a Zen theme!

Chapter 7, Part 10 - Confucius

The Master said to Yen Yuan, "When called to office, to undertake its duties; when not so called, to he retired; it is only I and you who have attained to this."

Tsze-lu said, "If you had the conduct of the armies of a great state, whom would you have to act with you?"

The Master said, "I would not have him to act with me, who will unarmed attack a tiger, or cross a river without a boat, dying without any regret. My associate must be the man who proceeds to action full of solicitude, who is fond of adjusting his plans, and then carries them into execution."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Daily Tao - Meet a Master and Know Yourself

When you meet normal people, they tell you all about themselves.

When you meet the wise, they teach you about your self.

For the master, there is nothing but the self.

Daily Tao is a reprint from Ta-Wan's blog, Daily Cup of Tao, which offers one post per day for an entire year. You also can read these posts in an ebook.

How I Became Immortal and Saved the Cosmos from Mindless Bliss

How I Became Immortal and Saved the Cosmos from Mindless Bliss
by Scott Bradley

You have no doubt heard of people who remember their past lives. Not only am I among them, I am unique among them. I always remember my previous lives. Admittedly, after awhile they all start to merge together, and of some among the tens of thousands I can no longer recall much of anything at all. But the important thing is that I know I've had them, and more importantly, I know I will always have more! I am immortal!

The trick, you see, is to always accumulate just the right amount of bad karma to remain in the wheel of birth and rebirth. Too much, and you have to be a snake or worm for a few kalapas. But even then, the time goes by pretty fast since you are altogether unaware of it. Too little, and...well, you've heard of the mindless bliss of nirvana. This is to be avoided at all costs!

Needless to say, my carefully planned immortality does not endear me to the vast multitudes of buddhas and bodhisattvas, as many as the sands of infinite Ganges’, waiting on the very cusp of mindless bliss for this final recalcitrant sentient being to join them for the final leap. But what can they do?! Forcibly enlighten me? I understand their frustration. Innumerable kalapas in limbo must wear on the soul. But that was their choice. I choose existence. I choose life!

Yes, existence means suffering. And God knows I've suffered. But, frankly, I still think it beats the alternative. And the worst suffering must surely be the fear of death, and I lost that way back in my caveman days. So, it's not so bad, really. And there are lots of good times.

You may be wondering how it is that I alone am seen as holding up the show, given my 6 billion odd fellow unenlightened beings. Well, we are the very dregs of the cosmos, don't you know; countless trillions have already moved on. (Now you know why we are such a mess.) The Multiverse is pretty much closed down now. There's only this universe left and one other whose souls are being transmigrated here. (How else do you think the population grows? Where else would all these ‘new’ souls come from?) This is the final push. The Age of Aquarius is dawning. So, your enlightenment is, relatively speaking, just around the corner. But mine will never come. And thus do I save the Cosmos from mindless bliss! And give you immortality!

I am the Sittrivittrivalomapatma, The Great Stick in the Spokes of the Dharma Wheel. I am The Great Hold-Out, the Absolute Distillation of All Yang. And when every other sentient being has finally joined together in surrender to Absolute Yin, it is I who will cause the Vast Explosion which starts the Multiverse all over again. How do I know? I’ve done it infinite times before.

(For information on where to send your tax deductible love-offerings and worshipful-donations visit us at (alloneword): SAILINGINPARADISEFORCOSMICREDEMPTION.com. P.S. We have an immediate opening for First Mate. We honor veteran lingerie models.)

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

3W 9

Detachment is a state, it is not a totalisation of achieved indifferences.
~ A selection from Fingers Pointing Towards The Moon by Wei Wu Wei. Click here for more from this book. ~

Question - Which Is Worse Than the Other?

Let's say that you befriend a homeless man. You see him on the street corner frequently and, when you do see him, you often give him money and/or food. Not only that, but you hire him to do odd jobs for you. From time to time, you take him to church with you and you drive him to various agencies as he applies for services to help him get back on his feet again.

A few months later, you are the victim of two muggings. The first mugging is at the hands of a stranger, but the second attacker is the homeless man you had befriended. Which mugging do you think will upset you more?

I think there is no question that you will be upset with both perpetrators. Few people enjoy being physically molested and robbed! That said, I think most people would be more upset with the second attacker because this attack is fused with a sense of betrayal. Here you had befriended this man and given him much, yet he turned around to bite the hand that fed him.

In a nutshell, this is the part of the Christian story that doesn't compute in my head. God continually pours himself out to his Chosen People, yet they betray him again and again and again. While he certainly does become angry with them, his greatest wrath is expelled on people who don't know him at all.

We see this same theme all throughout the Old Testament. A nation that worships Baal or some other god[s] and possesses no prophets to bring the message of Jehovah is subject to a "one strike and you're out" policy. They do something to spur God's wrath and he wipes them off the face of the earth or "allows" the Chosen People to defeat them in battle and then to destroy their property and rape their women.

Israel, on the other hand, is afforded a "100 strikes and you're never really out" policy. Even though they are given prophets to spread the message of Jehovah, they betray God again and again. Yet, as you can read in sections like Jeremiah 3, God gives them chance upon chance to come back into the fold. The Israelites can commit the worst transgressions, yet God never wipes them out.

This whole scheme seems bass ackwards to me.

There is a saying that to those who are given much, much is expected [in return]. Conversely, less is expected of those who have not been given much of anything. Yet, in the worldview of the Christian story, this meme is turned upside down.

To see what other questions I've asked about the Christian Bible, go here.

Chapter 7, Part 9 - Confucius

When the Master was eating by the side of a mourner, he never ate to the full.

He did not sing on the same day in which he had been weeping.
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

The Taoist Philosopher Sitting Alone Embracing All

Ta-Wan

An all inclusive solitary pursuit.

Everyone is included by being encouraged to walk their own path. No one's path is good for anyone else so following is questioned and questioning is encouraged.

Your definition should be different by a little or a lot. Walking alone, forging your own way should be the way. There is no congregation, no one way for all, no law.

Differences are symbols of membership. Arguments are displays of agreement (that all ways are unique). Differences in direction reaffirm the infinite.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

Afternoon Matinee: If Heaven Really Existed

4 lines of separation

Ta-Wan

How with words do we describe Tao which itself gives rise to that which gives rise to that which gives rise to language?

How do we contain Tao which itself contains infinity?

How do we align with or rejoin with that which is everything?

Must I point to that which breathes me?

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

Line by Line - Verse 52, Line 12

The perception of what is small is (the secret of clear-sightedness);
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Seeing the small is insight;
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Seeing details is called clarity
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

It takes insight to see subtlety.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

This is one of those times in which I'm really glad I chose to do this series by offering 4 different versions of the same lines. In my estimation, all four of the offerings above capture a portion of the basic idea Lao Tzu was trying to get across.

We live in a world today that emphasizes BIG, but the truth of life most often is found in the small. When we allow ourselves to be dazzled by the big lights on the big stage, we miss the simple beauty that the lights blot out. We stand before the world to deliver a command performance, but we are tripped up by the fact we never took the time to memorize our lines!

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

A Tao of not thinking

Ta-Wan

The expert golfer does not think through a shot as he plays the shot. An expert gamer does not think "Press this button to do this action, followed by that button to do that action..." An expert typist does not think "Now this key with this finger then that key with that finger." A great runner is not thinking "Left, right, left, right, right, god dammnit wrong foot!!!"

An expert in understanding life does not have a linear thought process on the act either.

Thinking is quite linear. When we muddle through a mathematical problem, a game of Sudoku, typing a response to a blog post or playing a return shot in a game of badminton, we will notice that if the linear thinking process creeps in then it can be stumped at any moment. Just as you are playing the shot or going for the last step in the equation the mind can thwart the whole thing by tripping over an unrelated thought or doubt. The linear path is fragile.

When we are "in the zone" "in the moment" we are allowing everything to just take place and not commentating, not judging, we just let it go and it happens. When we bring in the linear inner monologue then we flop.

When we watch a master musician play some complex and beautiful tune with perhaps a very tricky part just around the corner then they and you will know just before they fluff it that they will fluff it or you and they will witness an emptiness of thought and the event unfold perfectly. That seeming moment where they contort their body and face is not deep thought but the outward expression of forcefully preventing thought occurring.

This is emptiness of thought which I name the non-I state, the state where we see there is no doer of the act. Life simply taking place and it is timeless, magical wonder.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

Chapter 7, Part 8 - Confucius

The Master said, "I do not open up the truth to one who is not eager to get knowledge, nor help out any one who is not anxious to explain himself. When I have presented one corner of a subject to any one, and he cannot from it learn the other three, I do not repeat my lesson."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Daily Tao - What To Do?

Now just simplify your mind and self,
that's all there is so just sit;
Be balance and unknowing flow,
Nature's truth is here that's it.

Daily Tao is a reprint from Ta-Wan's blog, Daily Cup of Tao, which offers one post per day for an entire year. You also can read these posts in an ebook.

The Unborrowed II

The Unborrowed II
by Scott Bradley

Chang Ji, Confucius' disciple, would hear more of how a one-footed ex-con, Wang Tai, could be a greater sage than his own master, who thus further expounds on the philosophy of Wang:

"Looked at from the point of view of their differences, even your own liver and gallbladder are as far away as Chu in the south and Yue in the north. But looked at from the point of view of their sameness, all things are one. If you take the latter view, you become free of all preconceptions...You just release the mind to play in the harmony of all Virtuosities. Seeing what is one and the same to all things, nothing is ever felt to be lost." (Zhuangzi, 5:5-6; Ziporyn)

When we realize that we are all in the same boat, all temporal expressions of the same Reality (the “unborrowed”), we are able to transcend all the discriminations we make between things. And doing this, we are able to “release the mind to play in harmony” with every expression. That is Zhuangzi’s philosophy in a nutshell. There are other nutshell summations, but always there are these themes of acceptance, affirmation, and playful wandering.

Though the realization may prove difficult, the message is always pretty simple.

You can check out Scott's writings on Zhuangzi here.

3W 8

Are we not wasps who spend all day in a fruitless attempt to traverse a window-pane -- while the other half of the window is wide open?
~ A selection from Fingers Pointing Towards The Moon by Wei Wu Wei. Click here for more from this book. ~

Question - Why the Preoccupation with Harlots?

Trey Smith

If you haven't noticed, the Christian God doesn't seem to think too highly of one his creations: women. It is not uncommon at all in the verses of the Old Testament for this God to compare the wayward Chosen People to a harlot (i.e., prostitute). To offer just one example, take a look at Jeremiah 3:6:

The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

There are a multitude of other verses in which God likens the downfallen to a whore. What I find interesting about these references is that there is almost no mention of the people that make prostitution possible -- men seeking sex with women for money!

I don't remember a verse -- though there may be a few -- in which God chastises his followers for being johns. In the so-called illicit sex trade, it takes two to tango, but God appears to place the onus of sin solely on those individuals on the receiving end. Why is it that men who go outside of marriage for sexual gratification don't seem to incur the same amount of godly wrath?

Of course, the answer to this question is that -- at least in terms of the OT -- women typically aren't viewed as human beings; they are property! Selling your body for sex despoils the value of the property. Some poor schlep -- whomever it is that holds "title" to the particular woman -- will lose out on the all important dowry somewhere down the road.

Sniff!

To see what other questions I've asked about the Christian Bible, go here.

Chapter 7, Part 7 - Confucius

The Master said, "From the man bringing his bundle of dried flesh for my teaching upwards, I have never refused instruction to any one."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

A Question for Our Times

Trey Smith

Earlier today I linked to a column by Glenn Greenwald that decried the antipathy and callousness most Americans, in particular, feel whenever there is a news report that one of our bomb or drone attacks ends up killing Muslim or Arab children. We treat such news as little more than the most ephemeral ho-hum.

To be fair, this attitude is not just shared by America and her allies. I'm sure many Muslim and/or Arab families react much the same way to attacks on Western targets that end up killing and maiming children. When it's your kids, it is an unmitigated outrage; when it's their kids...well, accidents happen (sorry)!

Interestingly enough, these unsympathetic attitudes melt away when the cause of the deaths of innocent children do not come directly from human hands or, at least, not from malevolent human intent. Regardless of religious, nationalist or ideological persuasion, people from all over the world mourn the deaths of children when the cause is a climactic event or some sort of tragic accident.

If a volcano explodes, an earthquake shatters or a typhoon sweeps away scores of villages, nations are there to offer all sorts of assistance...even to their sworn enemies. It is in these situations that we are able to put aside time-honored animosities to mourn the senseless loss of life.

Why are we able to offer heartfelt compassion under one set of circumstances and yet show supreme disinterest in another?

It is a question for our times that is rarely broached.

Afternoon Matinee: If Atheists Acted Religious

Huainanzi - Entry 27

Trey Smith

Lofty terraces and multistoried pavilions are splendid indeedm, but an enlightened leader cannot enjoy them if people are homesless. Fine wine and tender meat are delicious indeed, but an enlightened leader cannot enjoy them if people are undernourished.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~

Needless to say, but the rich oligarchs of today have no problem with flaunting their excesses in the faces of those who have not. In fact, many believe it is a virtue to do so! What else could a person surmise when you watch them compete with each other to see who can rub more faces into the muck!

The callous disregard that many of our "leaders" hold for the people is one of the driving forces behind the Occupy movement. While I am certain that some of the protesters are opponents of the capitalist system -- like yours truly -- my bet is that the vast majority are not. They don't necessarily begrudge corporations and individuals for being rich; what has raised their hackles is that the rich feel no responsibility for the common good.

Put another way, today's capitalists are not enlightened. Their focus solely is on themselves. If they are doing well, that's all that matters. While they may acknowledge that others are homeless, jobless and/or underfed, they don't give a damn. If a circumstance doesn't impact their bottom line directly, they couldn't care less!

To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.

Line by Line - Verse 52, Lines 9-11

Let him keep his mouth open, and (spend his breath) in the promotion of his affairs, and all his life there will be no safety for him.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Open your mouth,
Always be busy,
And life is beyond hope.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Open the mouth
Meddle in the affairs
Live without salvation all through life
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

If you talk all the time,
always doing something,
your life will be hopeless.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

While these lines are addressed to each of us to a certain extent, they really come down hard on those among us who are self-promoters. Every other word out of their mouths is about them and no one else. When an individual spends so much time and energy telling you how wonderful they are, it leaves too little time and energy to BE wonderful!

It should go without saying that most self-promoters have very low self-esteem. They blather on about themselves as a mechanism to drown out the voices of self-doubt and/or self-loathing inside them.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

Life is a Living Book Waiting to Unfold Its Revealing Pages II

Shawn Tedrow

Now I need to broach the subject about going against our grain. Since Tao is traditionally about going with the flow, I am very sensitive about sharing the contrary and committing potential blasphemy, but I got to go with my flow.

A grape needs to be squeezed and transformed to produce wine and so does our ego identity. Unfortunately, there are many spiritual eluding paths before for us that avoid this grape-ego-press.

Typically, water flows down the path of least resistance. It cleaves to the easiest trail as it flows, and stays away from everything else as much as possible. In one sense, it resists clashing with any kind of opposition while flowing around and down the most comfortable path it can find. In a bigger sense, it is actually going against the natural flow of gravity, as it maneuvers around things instead of going straight through them.

Likewise, many spiritual philosophies seek a path that stays away from conflict, and lives only within a self-serving and “egoic preservation” comfort zone. This is done in the name of going with the flow. Add a little embellishing condiment to this and call this state of mind, becoming egoless.

Please do not misunderstand what I am trying to convey here. I am not saying that there isn’t a time when we sit with passivity and do not act upon a situation. I am saying that human beings “conveniently” take this thinking to extremes to avoid life’s ingenious winepress, and the deconstruction of ego.

When socializing and interacting with people, this type of thinking would rather hide, by taking on this passive spiritual egoless character identification, then stir up potential revealing conflict.

A socially disengaged individual never says and does anything wrong. Hmmm…. I wonder why? This person may say, “why interact with conflict, that’s not spiritual”, instead of interacting and experiencing potential discord, the winepress upon one’s ego, and the conniving lie about oneself being realized.

Is the path of a Taoist about controlling and avoiding ego, or exposing ego?

“I will just go with the silent Tao-flow of no conflict, floating on the wings of the indescribable, into the vastness of nothingness, and not get involved with this ego stuff”, this thinking might say. “I will go the way of emptiness”. My gosh, what an ego-trip, disguised as being egoless!

Is the path of the Taoist just a way to suppress, subdue, and abstain from ego? Is this the same as the water seeking the path of least resistance, like a grape avoiding the winepress?

You have heard it said, “Quiet the mind” but I say “Stir up the mind” and see what floats to the surface. You may have also heard, Honor your Mother and Father, but I say, tell your Mother she is a bitch, your Father that he is an asshole, and explain to them why this is.

Let’s come clean and get real with ourselves. Stop Tao-tiptoeing around the elephant in the living room. Stop living under the Maya-Veil of a bunch of diplomatic lies, especially about ourselves. Don’t hide thyself. Plunge into the winepress.

So a question to ask is; which flow of the two paths do we choose to float down? Flow number one, where we maneuver around things including ourselves, like water, or flow number two; allowing the natural gravity flow of honest expression to live, totally and authentically embracing what is, whatever that is, even if it becomes a disruptive vat, that crashes against the grain of our ego and others?

I personally think it is a balancing act of a learned skill to know; when to choose the path to surrender into passivity, or taking the other path of surrendering into truthfully speaking your mind.

With much practice, eventually this skill is sharpened further, with both paths flowing together simultaneously into one river of no-thought Tao expression. I wonder what that would look like.

Let us all with bravery turn to this page of the living book of life.

You can check out Shawn's other musings here.

Chapter 7, Part 6 - Confucius

The Master said, "Let the will be set on the path of duty.

"Let every attainment in what is good be firmly grasped.

"Let perfect virtue be accorded with.

"Let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

Daily Tao - You Are Your Guru - Truth Is Your Core

Free people require no leader,
and Tao has nothing to lose;
A leader makes fear to interfere with here,
people you know what to choose.

Daily Tao is a reprint from Ta-Wan's blog, Daily Cup of Tao, which offers one post per day for an entire year. You also can read these posts in an ebook.

The Unborrowed I

The Unborrowed I
by Scott Bradley

There was a one-footed ex-con named Wang Tai whose teaching was so powerful that he divided the state of Lu with Confucius himself. Or so Zhuangzi spins the story. When a disciple asks the Sage how this man, who says nothing at all, could be so popular, Confucius replies that he himself has been remise in not becoming his disciple.

Zhuangzi was a very naughty boy and we are fortunate indeed that his iconoclastic and irreverent writings have survived more than two millennia to find their way into our hands. Those of so many others did not.

Confucius goes on to explain why those who come empty to this silent teacher leave full. "Life and death are a great matter, but they are unable to alter him. Even if Heaven and earth were to topple over, he would not be lost with them. He discerns what alone is unborrowed, so he is not transferred away with the things around him. He looks on the alterations of all things as his own fate, and thus holds fast to their source." (Zhuangzi, 5:2-4; Ziporyn)

What this sage seems to possess is that peculiar detachment which is achieved, not by seeing himself as other than part of this transient world, but by identifying himself with it completely. Were the entire Universe a sinking ship, he would gladly go down with her. For we are all of one Reality. How could anything be lost?

How does he do this? "He discerns what is unborrowed." And what is that? We have no idea, nor could an idea contain it. We discern it by its absence, as Zhuangzi suggests elsewhere. The idea is to release into this, and nothing more. Nothing is found. No Absolutes are discovered. Just release into the void. What could be simpler?

Well, there is this problem of 'me'. Where does my individual existence factor in? It doesn't. Or, at least, it doesn't have to. Isn't that the whole idea?

Admittedly, this idea of me is a problem, but when all is said and done, it's a rather momentary one — from a personal point of view.

You can check out Scott's writings on Zhuangzi here.

Read This!

The Fruits of Liberation -- Glenn Greenwald

3W 7

We ourselves are not an illusory part of Reality; rather are we Reality itself illusorily conceived.
~ A selection from Fingers Pointing Towards The Moon by Wei Wu Wei. Click here for more from this book. ~

Tao Bible - Jeremiah 3:3

Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
~ King James version ~

Rain falls or does not fall according to its own internal nature.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~

We could easily explain away Bible verses of this ilk by reasoning that primitive civilizations simply didn't understand the properties of environment and climate. However, according to the Biblical literalist, God meant what [he] wrote and so what we must take from a verse such as this is that the rains didn't come because the Chosen People were unfaithful!

In philosophical Taoism, we eschew the desire to define Tao as the result of human behaviors and emotions. In one manner of speaking, Tao is independent of us. The laws of nature existed before we came on the scene and will continue to exist long after our species is dead and gone.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

Chapter 7, Part 5 - Confucius

The Master said, "Extreme is my decay. For a long time, I have not dreamed, as I was wont to do, that I saw the duke of Chau."
~ James Legge translation via The Internet Classics Archive ~

Go here to read the introductory post to this serialized version of the Analects of Confucius.

The Tao of...

Trey Smith

Almost everyone I know has a few pet peeves. Here's one of mine. It irritates me to no end when I run across a book title that starts with "The Tao of ..." What most authors mean is "The Way of..." or "The Truth of..."

For example, the other day I saw a book entitled, "The Tao of Golf." In reading a summary of the book, the author magnanimously wants to share with readers THE way to become a successful golfer.

My issue isn't with the use of the word, Tao. No, my gripe centers on the word, THE. The inference is that there is one way (or truth) to look at whatever the subject matter is. To my way of thinking, this notion runs counter to one of the core messages of philosophical Taoism.

There is no one path or way. My path will be different than your path and the path I ply today may well be different than the path I plod tomorrow and it certainly is different than the path I ambled down yesterday.

Whether someone is writing about golf, fishing, baking bread, painting or leadership, there is no universal one way to get from point A to point B.

So, I would kindly like to suggest to any author out there who is contemplating writing a book that begins with "The Tao of..." simply to replace the word "The" with the word "A."

"A Tao of..." would show that the author understands that he/she merely is offering one (out of gazillions) possible way of doing whatever it is. It shows a good degree of humility -- which happens to be one of the three pillars.

Okay, rant over with. ;-)

Afternoon Matinee: The Primacy of Consciousness, Part 7